SELF-SUFFICIENT BUILDINGS AND CITIES

How will we as humans be able to house everyone and maintain enough food, water, and electricity for everyone in the future with our rapidly increasing population, and still be eco-friendly?

EDITT TOWER

In Singapore, there is plans for a building called the EDITT Tower, which is 26 stories tall and is eco-friendly. Half of the surface of the tower will be wrapped in local vegetation to increase local bio-diversity. The building will have solar panels which will cover for 39.7% of its electricity. The tower will be constructed from recyclable materials, and will have a central recycling system that will be accessible from every floor of the building.

ZIGGURAT

A 2.3 kilometer square pyramid city named "Ziggurat" has been designed by the Dubai-based company Timelinks. It can accommodate for up to one million people and will take up less than 10% of the land area needed for an actual million person city. There will be an integrated 360 degree transport network, which means that there would be no need for cars. Steam and wind power would be the only sources of electricity, which would limit pollution.

LILYPAD

With climate change causing sea level to rise, a self-sufficient floating city is a good idea for the future. An amphibious city called "Lilypad" has been designed. The Lilypad can support 50,000 people and tries to create a coexistence between human and nature. It was inspired by the Great Lilypad of Amazonia Victoria Regia. It uses multiple types of renewable energies, solar, wind, and hydraulic powers are only a few on the list, with all these ways of getting energy, it creates more energy than it even needs to use.

CITATIONS

• Kain, Alexandra. "Singapore’s Ecological EDITT Tower." Inhabitat Sustainable Design Innovation Eco Architecture Green Building Singapores Ecological EDITT Tower Comments. Inhabitat, 15 Oct. 2008. Web. 04 May 2015. .

CITATIONS

• Salmi, Laura. "Ziggurat, Dubai, United Arab Emirates." WAN:: Ziggurat by WAN Editorial in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. World Architecture News, 19 Aug. 2008. Web. 04 May 2015. .

CITATIONS

• Callebaut, Vincent. "LILYPAD, A FLOATING ECOPOLIS FOR CLIMATE REFUGEES." LILYPAD. Vincent Callebaut Architectures, 2008. Web. 04 May 2015. .